Good morning and welcome to Monday Musings and a lovely wet morning it is with overnight much-needed rain…Today I am sharing some more of my Australian trip…After the nightmare journey I had on my UK trip last year I am pleased to report that the flight and connections were seamless and trouble-free… the bonus after all my stress and worry was we sailed through immigration and it was lovely to see Donna and the boys waiting for us …not boys anymore but tall strapping young men who tower over me but at heart they are still how I remember them.
The next morning after unpacking and packing a weekend bag… Donna drove us after first picking up her OH Brennan to Dongarra where they live…a town of about 2,500 people with beautiful bougainvillaea flowering everywhere we settled in our nice comfortable room and then had our first meal one of many of the beautiful crayfish(rock lobster)…the next morning she took me on an early morning walk…along the Irwin river beach trail…
- The trail to the beach
- The river Irwin
- Dongarra beach trail
- Wild Honey Bees
- Wild Pink Peppercorns
We went uphill and down dale through dunes up and down lots of steps to the beach along the way we saw wild pink peppercorns…These limestone rocks house many honeybees you can sometimes see the honeycombs but I’m not brave enough to risk their wrath to collect one apparently some do but I’m sure they are experts and wear appropriate clothing…it was just lovely to see so many nooks and crannies where the bees make their combs…I’m guessing because of the remoteness the honey bees feel safe and have a bounty of wonderful plants and flowers from whence to collect the pollen they needed…it was a lovely walk and we only saw one other person… it is beautifully remote and so lovely a bit nippy but I soon warmed up and I was rewarded by a lovely hot chocolate in a local cafe when our walk was over…
The next morning as you probably know we were taken out on the cray boat and saw first-hand how crays are pulled…and also about the cray and fishing industry in Dongarra…it was just so lovely to be out on the open sea and witness the lifestyle in that area…
On the journey back to Perth on Monday after a lovely weekend spent with our darling girl we of course had to stop off for a pie I quickly learnt that pies are big business here and Aussies love their pies as does my OH…me I don’t eat pies but no matter as long as the men were happy and had full stomachs then the world was all right…
Back in Perth, I had some lovely early morning walks..Perth has changed and is more built up but still small by city standards…
- Perth City by the dock
- A seagull
- View across the water in Perth city
Surrounded by water I love Perth and overlooked by the lovely Kings Park plus Heirisson Island is nestled between the suburbs of East Perth and Victoria Park on the Swan River.
The island is an important part of the City’s Nyoongar heritage and a beautiful oasis of calm in Perth, full of kangaroos.
The Nyoongar name for the area is Matagarup (meaning ‘leg deep’) which has been retained for the island. This video shows you how Perth City is surrounded by water and conservation of species is high on the agenda,,,
The kangaroos on this island are wild kangaroos and feeding is not allowed but they have plenty of vegetation. This video also shows a beautiful sunset over the City of Perth where else would you get a city skyline and kangaroos…
Freemantle is one of my favourite places in Perth there is a beautiful old undercover market and I was amazed at how many different cuisines there were on offer it was also very crowded…but Donna and I brought a lovely necklace we brought each other one…My choice was rose quartz and Fluorite which is a beautiful green colour…which means we can change our stone depending on our mood or outfit of course there was fudge -smile-plus a lovely honey cake which is only found in Perth…or Freeo to be precise…
- Original Honey Cake
- Fluorite and rose quartz
The honey cake I brought home as a gift for a friend and she loved it..not having had anything quite like it before it really is a beautiful cake…they also do jars of honeymisu…which sounds absolutely delicious the cake upon going onto the website and learning they do honeymisu is a recipe handed down by the owners family who originates from the Czech Republic…so I am on the search for a cake layered with honey which I think I have found it looks very similar so watch this space I will be giving it a go very soon.
Kings Park which is high above Perth is a beautiful park…one that gives a 360 view over Perth City…
- View from Kings Park overlooking Perth City
- A beautiful pink pepper corn tree
- Eucalyptus
- Eucalyptus 1
- Eucalyptus 2
- Eucalyptus 3
I absolutely love trees especially when the trunks form some wonderful shapes like the pink peppercorn I actually didn’t realise that the trees grew that big I’ve always thought that peppercorns grew on a bush..how wrong was I…
There were also many different varieties of the Eucalyptus and most were in flower…This trip has been full of different types of landscapes some very remote and stunning others beautiful and with lots of native plants..I have learnt much on this visit about the world we have inherited about indigenous peoples who live and work on some of these lands…who produce stunning artwork…it certainly was a time for family and discovery of places and previously untried foods a wonderful holiday …
More to come next time…I hope you have enjoyed this snapshot of my holiday in WA…